On Monday, workers will begin placing construction signs around US 65 and Highway CC in Ozark, which experiences especially heavy traffic Sunday mornings from those attending James River Church.

The $8.3 million project is slated to finish June 30.

Presiding County Commissioner Ray Weter said the construction project, which implements a diverging diamond at the exchange, will steeply decrease traffic. Weter said he and other morning commuters are “really looking forward to it.”

He joked that drivers wait so long in traffic to get on US 65 in the morning that they get hungry.

“I have to pack a lunch even when I leave in the morning,” he said.

Weter also noted that traffic is especially strained when there’s an event at James River Church. Traffic is so heavy that it necessitates directing from Ozark police on Sunday mornings.

“It gets bad,” he said. “Any big event at James River, they have to have traffic control.”

Angela Eden with the Missouri Department of Transportation, or MoDOT, said the work will cause nighttime lane closings, but no lanes will be closed during the day.

There will be one complete closure of the interchange, but that will take place over a single weekend toward the end of the project, Eden said.

While there won’t be daytime lane closures, drivers can expect some delays as traffic slows down when construction takes place, she said.

“We’ve known for a while that this area’s been very congested,” Eden said.

Weter said that under a 2011 cost-share agreement, Christian County will be paying $195,000 for 10 years for this project. That will cover $1.675 million plus interest, he said.

The county’s already paid two of those payments so far, Weter said, as well as $500,000 for preliminary engineering, as outlined in the agreement. A $2.3 million chunk is being paid by federal funds from the Surface Transportation Program, he said, and the rest comes from MoDOT, Weter said.

The original estimated cost from the 2011 agreement was $8.9 million, Weter said.

Don Saiko, a MoDOT project manager, explained that actual costs for some parts of the project have been less than initially anticipated — leading to the reduced price tag.